Method for measuring molecular composition or molecular densities in gases

ABSTRACT

A measuring technique and method are provided to simultaneously determine the molecular density of several molecular species and the temperature within a closed process room in a melting or combustion process. In such processes in the industry, e.g. in metallurgic process industry, it is important to determine the temperature and the contents within the gas or flame without physically connect to or disturb the process. This has shown to raise large problems especially at high temperatures. The radio signal over a frequency band is measured on the outside of the process room through a window in the mantel covering as a function of frequency and registered on a computer as a radio spectrum. The system is calibrated by using a known signal transmitted through the process room. The spectral lines are identified by their frequency from a database. The temperature is determined from several lines of the same molecular specie and the molecular densities are determined from the intensities of the lines. The method is suitable to determine vibrational and rotational excitation of molecular species in the radio wavelength range of 30μm to 500 m. The densities of molecular species and the temperature can be imaged in three dimensions inside the process room or exhaust channel if interferometers are used for simultaneous two dimensional imaging from several azimuth directions.

This is a divisional, of U.S. Ser. No. 08/510,444, filed on Aug. 2, 1995, now, U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,877, which claims continuation-in-part status from International Appln. No. PCT/SE94/00100, filed Feb. 3, 1994 and which claims priority from Swedish Patent Appln. No. 9300347-3, filed Feb. 3, 1993.

International Application No. PCT/SE94/00100 was pending as of the filing date of the present U.S. application and the U.S. was an elected state in the International Application No. PCT/SE94/00100.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method for measuring temperature, molecular densities and molecullar coniposition or any combination thereof, in gases and/or flames in melting and/or combustion processes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional gas analysis methods using IR-paramagnetic and mass spectrometer technology need a physical contact with the gas to be analysed. This means that the gas has to be cooled before entering the analyzer which may affect the results of the measurements. Another disadvantage with conventional gas analyzers is that they can not simultaneously measure the temperature of the gas and analyze the gas.

It is known that the attenuation of a continuum radio signal can be used to recover the amount of black smoke in exhaust fumes, JP 60-64234. This patent method does not determine any molecular content, nor does it determine any temperature.

It is also known that the changes in the refractive index of flying ash can be used to determine the carbon content therein, WO 90/03568. This patent method does not distinguish between molecular species and does not measure any spectral lines or determine molecular densities, configuration, or temperature.

It is also known that attenuation and reflection in the exhaust fumes from a reaction engine can be used to determine changes in the exhaust fume composition, WO 90/03568. This method does not determine any molecular species or temperature.

It is also known that the existence of a specific molecular specie can be decided if the molecular gas is first mixed with a drive gas and then injected into a cavity chamber, patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,653. The cavity is then adjusted to the wavelength of the molecular transition and the molecular gas is excited by injecting a radio signal. The radio transmitter is then turned off and the molecule will emit at its specific frequency if it is present. This method measures a single molecular line at the time and can only detect the molecular species for which it is specifically adjusted. This method does not measure the temperature or the molecular density within the process since the molecular gas has to be taken out of the process-room to the special cavity and the gas is also contaminated with a drive gas.

None of the above patents discloses, discusses, or makes possible the simultaneous determination of a multiple of molecular lines and species or can determine molecular densities and temperature in a working melting process or combustion process without any interaction with the gas flow.

Changes in the pattern of electromagnetic wave fronts represent the most sensitive probes in physics. Electromagnetic waves may penetrate media of varying physical properties, clanging its amplitude and phase in a way which is specific to the content of the media. Thus molecular gas will emit or absorb electromagnetic radiation mainly depending on its density, the physical temperature, or the radiation field in the area where the gas resides. Continuum radiation will also be affected when penetrating a media in the sense that the amplitude will be attenuated and the propagation velocity will change, resulting in a sudden change of phase in the interface area. The radioband is of particular interest in that here waves can penetrate deeper into dusty areas and also detect and measure complicated molecules by their rotational transitions.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide an accurate and reliable method to analyze a gas and to determine the temperature of a gas directly in an industrial process without physical contact with the gas that is being analyzed and without disturbing the gas and the process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described more closely with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an experimental set up.

FIG. 2 shows schematically a more sophisticated apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the apparatus in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a representation of a spectrum observed in the radio band of 20-40 GHz in a chimney.

FIG. 5 illustrates the determination of gaseous components from the radio band spectrum.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating the sequence of steps performed by a computer program "MOLTOM5" set forth hereinbelow.

FIG. 7 shows schematically an exhaust channel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Each molecular species has its own fingerprint in the form of a spectrum of lines, in the radio domain mainly determined by the quantified transitions between vibrational- and/or rotational states. Molecular lines in the atmosphere are very much broadened due to the relatively high pressure. The most significant exception is if the molecular flow is highly directive, e.g. if we are looking through the flow at an angle perpendicular to that of the flow. In that case the pressure broadening will be much less and molecular lines can be well separated. This exception is the case for the gas flow in chimneys or through the gas flow from any burning process if viewed across the flow.

The invention can be best described with an experimental set-up shown in FIG. 1. Here a chimney (11) is made out of ceramic material, chrome-magnesite and charmotte, and covered with steel. The chimney has an opening (12) for an oil burner. The steel cover has two opposite windows (13), with intact ceramic material. Outside the windows (13) and in line with the windows are two parabolic antennas (14,15). One or the parabola is connected to a transmitter (16) and the other parabola (15) is connected to a receiver (17). The transmitter consists of a signal generator which is stepped in frequency over a wide frequency band. The received signal is compared with the transmitted signal in a cross-correlator (18) connected to a computer (19).

The received signal consists of a number of spectral lines emitted from the gas inside the chimney overlaid on the background transmitted signal. The transmitted signal is used to calibrate the frequency response of the system and the attenuation through the chimney walls by looking at the received signal between the molecular lines. This baseline will then be subtracted from the received signal and the intensities of the molecular spectral lines can be determined as calibrated inside the chimney.

The system is further calibrated by measuring the signal transmitted through the chimney as a function or frequency when the chimney is empty.

The registered spectrum is stored in a computer. A database is searched for known lines which coincide in frequency with maxima within the observed spectrum. Thereafter a Gaussian model fit is made to the line in order to determine the amplitude, frequency, anti line width, A line is considered to be detected if the amplitude of the Gaussian fitted line is more than three times the calculated noise level. The measured amplitudes are then calibrated to an absolute temperature scale.

If a number of lines from the same molecular specie can be detected, then the relative population of the various energy levels may be determined. This relation is mainly determined by the physical temperature of the gas and the density of the molecular specie as: N_(u) /g_(u) =N_(rot) /Q(T_(rot)) e^(-Eu/T) rot where N_(u) is the number of molecules in the upper energy level of the transition), g_(u) is the statistical weight of the transition, E_(u) is the energy of the upper energy level in Kelvin, Q is the rotational constant. T_(rot) is physical temperature, in the case of burning processes where the excitation is dominated by collisions due to the high temperature, and N_(rot) is the column density of the molecules of this particular specie. N_(u) /g_(u) is directly proportional to the intensity integrated over the spectral line and can therefore be measured. If a number of spectral lines from a molecule arc available, then both the density (if the path length is known) and the physical temperature (if the molecule is predominantly collision excited) can be determined simultaneously. If lines from other molecules are also present, then also the densities of these molecules may be measured from the intensity of a single molecular line.

The radio antenna can also consist of an interferometer where the elements are radio horn antennas mounted in plane (31,32) and with properly adjusted delay lines as shown in FIG. 2. Then the two dimensional distribution of molecular densities and temperature can be reconstructed by transforming from the aperture (u,v) plane to the image plane.

If then the system consists of interferometer (32) which are looking into the process room (35) or exhaust channel (100) from different angles as is shown in FIG. 3, then the densities and the temperature may also be recovered in three dimensions by a Radon transform, similar to what is used in computer tomography. Such a system can recover the temperature distribution in three dimensions within a hot gas (or a flame). It can also, which will be more important, simultaneously recover the three dimensional density distribution of each detectable molecular specie. These measurements are also performed without any physical probe since the radio signal may, as indeed was the case in our pilot experiment, that will be described penetrate through the ceramic wall of the chimney.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, an experiment was carried out. An oxy/oil burner was installed and was burning in a steady state.

FIG. 4 shows the spectrum observed in the radioband 20-40 GHz through the flow in the chimney. Most of these lines come from SO₂, some others from NH₃ and other molecules. It is therefore clearly possible to detect molecules within the radioband in gas flows on earth. As a consequence it is then also possible to make images of such a flow. FIG. 5 shows the identifications of some of the lines from one observation. Using SO₂ as a tracer it was possible to determine the temperature as well as the density of SO₂ as function of time.

An actual working example of the invention has been carried out, wherein, referring to FIG. 1, the following components were employed:

    ______________________________________                                         12  opening for oil-burner                                                     13  window through steel cover                                                                      Chrome-magnesite and Chamotte                             14  transmitting antenna                                                                            1.2 m diameter offset parabola                                                 from Parabolic AB                                             rectangular feed horn                                                                           Quasar Technology for 26-40                                                    Ghz band                                                      converter waveguide to                                                                          Quasar Technology for 26-30                                   coaxial cable    GHz band                                                  15  receiving antenna                                                                               1.2 m diameter offset parabola                                                 from Parabolic AB                                             rectangular feed horn                                                                           Quasar Technology for 26-40                                                    Ghz band                                                      converter waveguide to                                                                          Quasar Technology for 26-30                                   coaxial cable    Ghz band                                                  16  signal generator Wiltron System Signal Source                                                   type 360SS69                                              17  receiver         Wiltron Active Device Test Set                                                 type 3621A                                                18  data acquisition Wiltron Vector Network                                                         Analyser type 360B                                        19  data storage     PC computer with GPIB                                                          Interface                                                 ______________________________________                                    

Addresses for these companies are as follows:

Quasar Microwave Technology Ltd

Battle Road, Heathfield, Newton Abbot Devon TQ12 6XU

United Kingdom

Wiltron Company

490 Jarvis Drive

Morgan Hill, Calif. 95037-2809

USA

Parabolic AB

Box 10257

S-434 23 Kungsbacka

SWEDEN

As for the inter-unit connections, the radio frequency output of the transmitter 16 is connected to a power divider type Wiltron K24OC with a steel semirigid coaxial cable of 30 cm in length. The two output signals from the power divider are connected to the transmitting antenna 14 and the receiver 17 with steel coaxial cables. The other radio frequency port of the receiver 17 is connected to the receiving antenna 15. The data acquisition system 18 is connected to the transmitter 16 and the receiver 17 via GPIB bus cables. The computer 19 is also connected using a GPIB interface.

The data acquisition unit 18, i.e., the Vector Network Analyser, was set to step in 501 frequency steps between 30 and 40 Ghz and the division of the amplitudes of the received signal and the reference signal from the transmitter were stored for each frequency channel. A total integration time of 10 secs. was used for each frequency spectrum.

The data was stored on computer discs and each spectrum was then analyzed off line with a special computer program. A theoretical description of the analysis of molecular densities and temperatures can be found in "Microwave Spectroscopy": C. H. Townes and A. L. Schawlow, Dover Publications Inc. New York, ISBN 0-486-61798-X, which publication is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

The computer program used is referred to internally as "MOLTOM5" and is illustrated in the form of a flow diagram shown in FIG. 6.

The actual computer program "MOLTOM5" is set forth immediately below. "MOLTOM5" and another computer program referred to internally as "SLAGG" make subroutine calls to four commercially available software packages. [The computer program "SLAGG" is more particularly utilized in conjunction with the invention disclosed in published International Application No. PCT/SE94/00099 (which corresponds to Swedish Patent Application No. 9300348-1).] These four commercially available software packages are:

PGPLOT from Dr. Tim Pearson, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.;

LMSTR1 and GETERR from the Astronomical Image Processing System (AIPS) of National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Socorro, New Mexico; and

SVDFIT from Numerical Recipes, Press, Flannery, Teukolsky and Vetterling, Cambridge University Press, isbn 0 521 30811 9.

Each of the four commercial software packages referred to immediately above is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

The "MOLTOM5" computer program used in the above-described working example is as follows:

    __________________________________________________________________________       INTEGER IS,PGBEGIN                                                             integer*2 status, dummy                                                        character*15 frame1, frame2, frame3                                            character*128 record                                                           character*80 title                                                             character*16 mol                                                               REAL*4 FR1(512), AMP1(512), PH1(512)                                           REAL*4 FR2(512), AMP2(512), PH2(512)                                           REAL*4 FR3(512), AMP3(512), PH3(512)                                           REAL*4 FR4(1024), AMP4(1024), x1(2), y1(2)                                     REAL*4 xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax, fleal, flmag,                                  *                                                                                tpl, x, ampsum, xnv(2), xv(2), xnvl(2), xnvh(2)                               integer gfunc, lpvl(12)                                                        external glunc                                                                 REAL*4 xb(2), yb(2)                                                            real*8 data(1024), xtr(1024), enorm, dpar                                      real*8 palms(12), ljac(12, 12), work(2148),                                   *    lvec(2048), tol, sparms(12), tnorm                                       REAL *4 X01(500), Y01(500)                                                     INTEGER NP01                                                                   c***********************************************************************       integer      pd, CDAT, DMAX, NWMAX                                             c                                                                                  parameter                                                                           (CDAT=2048, DMAX=21, NWMAX=10)                                        c                                                                                  real u(CDAT+1, DMAX+1), V(DMAX+1, DMAX+1), w(DMAX+1)                       REAL SIGM(500)                                                                 real     A01(DMAX)                                                             REAL   A(DMAX), B(DMAX)                                                        c                                                                              logical  accept, skip                                                          c                                                                                common/gdata/data, xfr                                                       C                                                                                data clight/299792.0e0/                                                      ---------------------------------------------------------------                C                                                                              C                                                                                ler=pgbegin(0, `/MSOFT`, 1, 1)                                                 open(unit=22, file=`lbb\moltom, lit`)                                open(unit=18, file=`lbb\moltom7.prm`)                                open(unit=23, file=`lbb\moltom.tlm`)                               C   write(6,*)`Input file name:`                                               900 read(18, `(A)`, END=999) fname t                                           IF(Iname1(1:4).sq.`slop`) goto 999                                             C   write(6,*) `Input ref. file name:`                                         OPEN(UNIT=17, FILE=Iname1)                                                     100 lead(17,2000) record                                                       If(record(1:9).ne.`FREQUENCY`) goto 100                                        c  write(6, `(A)`) record(1:30)                                                tpl=2.0*3.1415265350d0                                                         xmin=999999999.99                                                              xmin=-xmin                                                                     ymin=xmin                                                                      ymax=-ymin                                                                     IN=0                                                                           1  read(17,2000, end=10, err=1) record                                           record(42:43)=` `                                                            2000                                                                               formal(A)                                                                  Ind=Index(record, `m`)                                                         If(Ind.gt.0) record(ind:ind)=` `                                               read(record, 1000, err=1, end=1) lS, X, Y, Z                                   1000                                                                               FORMAT(13,3F15.0)                                                          If(is.it.1) goto 1                                                             IN=IN+1                                                                        FR1(IN)=X                                                                      AMP1(IN)=Y*10.0e0                                                              PH1(IN)=Z*lpl/360.0e0                                                          c   write(6,*) ln, ls, x, y, z                                                 If(1S.eq.501) goto 10                                                          GOTO 1                                                                          10 CONTINUE                                                                   close(unit=17)                                                                 do l=1.501                                                                     If(xmin.gt.fr1)(i)) xmln=fr1(1)                                                If(xmax.lt,fr1(1)) xmax=fr1(1)                                                 If(ymin.gt.amp1(1)) ymin=amp1(1)                                               If(ymax.lt.amp1(1)) ymax=amp1(i)                                               enddo                                                                          if(xmin.lt.29.99) goto 900                                                     ymin=0.0                                                                       ymax=120.0                                                                     c   xmin=30.0                                                                  c   xmax=40.0                                                                  c   write(6,*) xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax                                          c   call pgsls(1)                                                              c   CALL PGSLW(5)                                                              call pgscl(1)                                                                  CALL PGENV(XMIN, XMAX, YMIN, YMAX, 0, 0)                                       call pgsci(3)                                                                  CALL PGLINE(501, FR1, AMP1)                                                    open(unit-21, file=`lbb\moltom.dat`)                                 write(22, `(A)`) fname1(1:16)                                                  il0=0                                                                          4  read(21, `(110.3), A, 2110.3)`, end=40) xx, mol, eu, sui                      If(xx.it.1.0) goto 40                                                          x1(1)=xx                                                                       x1(2)=xx                                                                       do 1=1.501                                                                   df=abs(lri(i)-xx)                                                              If(df.it.0.02) then                                                            1x-1                                                                           endif                                                                          enddo                                                                          yynax=ampi(ix)                                                                 ii=1x-2                                                                        jjx=1x                                                                         do jx=1, 3                                                                     ii=11+1                                                                        If(abs(amp1(ii)).gl.abs(yynax)) then                                           yynax=amp1(ii)                                                                 jjx=ii                                                                         endif                                                                          enddo                                                                          c   write(6,*) ix, jjx, yynax, amp1(ix), amp1(jjx)                             ix=jjx                                                                         xstr=fr1(1x-2)                                                                 xstp=fr1(1x+2)                                                                 parms(1)=amp1(1x)                                                              C   If(dabs(parms(1)).it.0.02) goto 4                                          C   xsgn=1.0                                                                   C   If(parms(1).it.0.0) then                                                   C     xsgn=-1.0                                                                C     parms(1)=-parms(1)                                                       C   endif                                                                      parms(2)=fr1(1x)                                                               parms(3)=0.020                                                                 jj=0                                                                           do 1=1.501                                                                     If(Ir1(1).ge.xstr.and.fr1(1).le.xstp) then                                     jj=jj+1                                                                        data(jj)=amp1(1)                                                               If(yynax.gl.0.0.and.amp1(1).it.0.0) then                                               data(jj)=0.0d0                                                         else if(yynax.it.0.0.and.amp1(1).gt.0.0) then                                          data(jj)=0.0d0                                                         endif                                                                          C       If(xsgn.it.0.0) then                                                   C         data(jj)=-data(jj)                                                   C       endif                                                                  xfr(jj)=fr1(1)                                                                 endif                                                                          enddo                                                                          C   write(6,*) If.parms(1), parms(2), parms(3)                                 do jjk=1,3                                                                     lol=1.0d-5                                                                     call lmstr1(gfunc, jj, 3, parms, fvec, fjac, 12, tol, info,                                  lpvt, work, 2108)                                                enddo                                                                          inpnts=jj                                                                      fnorm=enorm(inpnts, ivec)                                                      call getorr(1, lpvt, ijac, eparms, 3, jj, 12, lnorm, work, lol)                C   eparms(2)=eparms(2)*3.0d0                                                  C   eparms(3)=eparms(3)*3.0d0                                                  dpar=parms(1)/eparms(1)                                                        C   parms(1)=xsgn*parms(1)                                                     dfr=xx.parms(2)                                                                dfr=abs(dir)                                                                   if(dpar.ge.3.0d0.and.dir.it.0.2) then                                          c   if(dpar.ge.3.0d0.and.dir.it.0.02) then                                     If(eu.gt.0.0) then                                                                     xeu=eu*1.440e0                                                         c         dp=1.0e0                                                                     dp=2.0e0*parms(3)*1.06/parms(2)*clight*1.67                            c         dp=dp*dp                                                                     xnu=log(parms(1)*dp/parms(2)/sul/1.634/1.634)                          c         xnu=log(parms(1)/parms(2)/sul)                                               110=110+1                                                                      x01(110)-xeu                                                                   y01(110)=xnu                                                                   slgm(110)=                                                              *            (log((parms(1)+eparms(1))*dp/                                     *                parms(2)/sul/1.634/1.634)-                                    *            log((parms(1)-eparms(1))*dp/                                      *                parms(2)/sul/1.634/1.634))/4.0e0                             else                                                                           xeu=0.0e0                                                                      xnu=0.0e0                                                                      endif                                                                          write(22,3331) mol(1:8), xx, yynax, parms(1), eparms(1), parms(2),              *              eparms(2), parms(3), eparms(3), xnu, xeu                       x1(1)=parms(2)                                                                 x1(2)=parms(2)                                                                 y1(1)=ymin                                                                     y1(2)=0.80*ymax                                                                if(eu.gt.0.0) then                                                             c     call pgsls(2)                                                            c     CALL PGSLW(1)                                                            call pgscf(2)                                                                  call pgline(2, x1, y1)                                                         endif                                                                          x1(1)=xx                                                                       x1(2)=xx                                                                       y1(1)=0.80*ymax                                                                y1(2)=0.03*ymax                                                                c     call pgsls(1)                                                            c     CALL PGSLW(3)                                                            call pgscl(6)                                                                  call pgline(2, x1, y1)                                                         y1(1)=0.84*ymax                                                                call pgsci(2)                                                                  call pgptext(x1(1), yl(1), 90.0, 0.0, mol)                                     endif                                                                          3331  formal(A, 2x, F12.5, 18.2, 18.2, `+/-`, 17.2, 115.5, `+/-`, 110.5,                   4112.5)                                                            C                                                                              goto 4                                                                          40 CLOSE(UNIT=21)                                                             np01=110                                                                       a01(1)=0.0                                                                     a01(2)=0.5                                                                     pd=2                                                                           mp=cdat+1                                                                      np=dmax+1                                                                      CALL SVDFIT(X01, Y01, SIGM, NP01, A01, PD, U, V, W, MP, NP, CHISQ)             trol=-1.0e0/a01(2)                                                             xlol=exp(a01(1))*6916.978*((trol/300.0e0)**1.50e0)*1.0e+14                     xlol2=a01(1)                                                                   write(22,*)`next`, trol, xlol, xlol2                                           write(23,*) fname1(1:16), trol, xlol                                           write(title,2222) fname1(1:15), trot, xlol                                     2222  format(A,`Trol=`, 18.0, `Kelvin`,`N(SO\d2\u)=`,            e12.4,                                                                    *      *cm\U-2\d`)                                        call pgscl(1)                                                                  CALL PGLABEL(`frequency (GHz)`, `amplitude`, title)                            GOTO 900                                                                        999                                                                               CALL PGEND                                                                 write(22,*) `slop`                                                             close(unit=22)                                                                 close(unit=23)                                                                 C                                                                                STOP                                                                           END                                                                            SUBROUTINE GFUNC (M, N, parms, FVEC, fjrow, IFLAG)                           C                 Variables used as adjustable                                 C                 array dimension specifiers                                   C                 should be declared simply as                                 C                 INTEGER                                                      INTEGER M, N, LDFJAC, lflag                                                    REAL*8 parms(N), FVEC(M), fjrow(N), x                                          real*8 data(1024), amp, pos, sig, xfr(1024), res2, tslg2, elact                common/gdata/data, xlr                                                         C                                                                              C     If IFLAG = 1 calculate the functions at X and                            C     return this vector in FVEC. Do not alter FJAC.                           (If(lflag.gf.f) goto 100                                                       do ldata=1, m                                                                  amp=parms(1)                                                                   pos=parms(2)                                                                   slg=parms(3)                                                                   c       slg=0.0250                                                             res2=2.772d0*(xlt(ldata)-pos)**2                                               tslg2=sig**2                                                                   fvec(idata)=data(ldata)-amp*dexp(-1.d0*res2/tslg2)                             enddo                                                                          goto 999                                                                       C     If IFLAG = 2 calculate the Jacobian at X and                             C     return this matrix in FJAC. Do not alter FVEC.                            100   continue                                                                       x=xfr(iflag-1)                                                                amp=parms(1)                                                                   pos=parms(2)                                                                   slg=parms(3)                                                             c       slg=0.0250                                                             res2=2.772d0*(x-pos)**2                                                        tslg2=slg**2                                                                   elact=dexp(-1.d0*res2/tslg2)                                                   fjrow(1)=efact                                                                 fjrow(2)=-5.544d0*amp`efact*(x-pos)/(slg*slg)                                  fjrow(3)=-2.d0*amp*efact*res2/(slg**3)                                          999  continue                                                                 C                                                                              RETURN                                                                         END                                                                            __________________________________________________________________________

FIG. 6 illustrates in the form of a flow diagram the sequence of steps carried out by the above computer program "MOLTOM5".

FIG. 7 shows an exhaust channel 100, in which exhaust channel 100, the temperature of at least one of gases and flames can be measured by an arrangement similar to the arrangement for measuring temperature illustrated in FIG. 1.

The published PCT application to which the present U.S. application corresponds, namely PCT/SE94/00100, the published Swedish application from which it claims priority SE 9300347-3, as well as all documents cited in the International Search Report issued thereon, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,653 issued to Andresen et al. on Jun. 23, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,614 issued to Hatono et al. on Sep. 15, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,069 issued to Peterman et al. on Mar. 20, 1984 and Great Britain Patent 2030414 (and its U.S. counterpart, U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,787, issued on Jun. 30, 1981), are hereby expressly incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein. Additionally, published PCT application PCT/SE94/00100 is directed to similar subject matter disclosed in published PCT application PCT/SE94/00099, which PCT application, the published Swedish application from which it claims Priority, SE 9300348-1, together with all documents cited in the International Search Report issued thereon, namely U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,791 issued to Jean et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,242 issued to Nagamune et al., German Auslegeschrift 28 12 871 (and its U.S. counterpart, U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,023, issued on Jul. 1, 1980) and European Patent No. 0060597 (and its U.S. counterpart, U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,530, issued on Jul. 10, 1984), are also hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application.

One feature of the invention resides broadly in a method for measuring temperature, molecular composition or molecular densities or any combination thereof in gases and/or flames in melting and/or combustion processes, characterized in that it comprises measuring electromagnetic radiation in the radio range defined as wavelengths between 500 m and 30 μm with a radio antenna positioned outside a process room and/or exhaust channel, performing the measurements during a continuous melting and/or combustion process, and measuring spectral lines emitted by the high temperature collision excited molecules, and absorbed from a background signal when the population of energy levels for the collision excited molecule permits this.

Another feature of the invention resides broadly in a method characterized in that molecular species are identified from the measured spectrum by comparing the detected spectral lines with molecular lines from an identification data base.

Yet another feature of the invention resides broadly in a method characterized in that the temperature is measured inside the process room and/or exhaust channel by measuring the relative intensities of several lines from the same molecular specie and comparing with a theoretical relation calculated for the expected population of energy levels as a function of temperature.

Still another feature of the invention resides broadly in a method characterized in that the density of the molecular species are determined by measuring the absolute intensity of a spectral line from that specie and compare with the theoretically expected intensity for the already determined temperature.

Another feature of the invention resides broadly in a method characterized in that the electromagnetic radiation is measured in narrow frequency channels resulting in a frequency spectrum which is compared with a known reference signal and is calibrated against the back of the process room and/or exhaust channel transmitted copy of the reference signal.

Yet another feature of the invention resides broadly in a method characterized in that the reference and background signal is created in steps of narrow frequency channels by stepping a signal generator in frequency.

Still another feature of the invention resides broadly in a method characterized in that the receiving antenna is an interferometer and that the two dimensional distribution of densities and temperature are reconstructed from the cross correlation of the signal of the individual interferometer elements.

Another feature of the invention resides broadly in a method characterized in that the signal is received simultuaneously by interferometers placed at several azimuth angles around the processroom and/or exhaust channel and the three dimensional distribution of densities and temperature are reconstructed by projections.

The components disclosed in the various publications, disclosed or incorporated by reference herein, may be used in the embodiments of the present invention, as well as, equivalents thereof.

The appended drawings in their entirety, including all dimensions, proportions and/or shapes in at least one embodiment of the invention, are accurate and to scale and are hereby included by reference into this specification.

All, or substantially all, of the components and methods of the various embodiments may be used with at least one embodiment or all of the embodiments, if more than one embodiment is described herein.

All of the patents, patent applications and publications recited herein are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein.

The corresponding foreign and international patent publication applications, namely, Swedish Patent Application No. 9300347-3, filed on Feb. 3, 1993, and PCT/SE94/00100, filed on Feb. 3, 1994, having inventor Lars Baath, and SE-OS 9300347-3 and SE-PS 9300347-3 and International Application No. PCT/SE94/00100, and International Publication No. WO94/18550, are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein.

The invention as described hereinabove in the context of the preferred embodiments is not to be taken as limited to all of the provided details thereof, since modifications and variations thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process, said method using a measuring system for measuring the molecular density, and said method comprising the steps of:storing a quantity representative of at least one spectral line which at least one spectral line corresponds to at least one known molecular density of the at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process; positioning a transmitter; the transmitter being configured to transmit radio waves; positioning a receiver to receive radio waves from the transmitter; disposing the transmitter and the receiver on opposite sides of a chimney; receiving a reference signal by transmitting a signal to the receiver from the transmitter when the chimney does not contain the at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process; calibrating the measuring system with said received reference signal; transmitting a signal from the transmitter through the chimney when the chimney contains the at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process; receiving a modified signal with at least one spectral line through the chimney when the chimney contains the at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process with the receiver; comparing the received modified signal with at least one spectral line to the previously received reference signal and determining at least one present spectral line in said received modified signal; and comparing the determined at least one spectral line to the stored quantity representative of at least one spectral line, and determining the molecular density of the at least one molecular species of the at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process in the chimney from a result of said step of comparing the determined at least one spectral line to the stored quantity representative of at least one spectral line and the corresponding at least one known molecular density.
 2. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 1, wherein said step of transmitting a signal further comprises the step of transmitting a radio wave with a wavelength between 500 meters and 30 micrometers.
 3. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 1, wherein a step of measuring an intensity of electromagnetic radiation emitted by high temperature collision excited molecules present in the at least one of a gas and flame is measured after said modified signal is received.
 4. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 3, wherein said step of comparing the received signal to the transmitted signal further comprises the step of filtering out the transmitted signal from the received signal and obtaining the determined at least one spectral line.
 5. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 4, wherein:the transmitter comprises a signal generator; and said step of transmitting a signal further comprises the step of stepping the signal generator in steps comprising narrow frequency channels over a wide frequency band and generating the transmitted signal; each of said narrow frequency channels being substantially smaller than said wide frequency band.
 6. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 5, further comprising:the measured intensity of electromagnetic radiation being related to the determined at least one spectral line; and said step of determining the molecular density comprises:determining the temperature of the at least one of a gas and flame by using a theoretical relation between measured intensities of the determined plurality of spectral lines and the temperature to be determined; and determining the molecular density of at least one molecular species of the at least one of a gas and flame by measuring the absolute intensity of said determined at least one spectral line, and using a comparison between the measured intensity of the determined at least one spectral line and the theoretically expected intensity corresponding to the determined temperature.
 7. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 6, wherein:said step of determining at least one spectral line further comprises the step of determining a plurality of spectral lines; said step of determining a plurality of spectral lines further comprises the step of searching a database for known spectral lines which coincide in frequency with the determined plurality of spectral lines.
 8. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 7, wherein said step of comparing the determined at least one spectral line further comprises the step of applying a Gaussian model fit to the determined plurality of spectral lines and determining at least one of amplitude, frequency and line width of the determined plurality of spectral lines and calibrating the determined at least one of amplitude, frequency and line width of the determined plurality of spectral lines to a known temperature.
 9. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 8, wherein said step of comparing the determined at least one spectral line further comprises the step of comparing with a computer the determined plurality of spectral lines to the stored at least one spectral line.
 10. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 9, wherein:said receiver comprises a plurality of interferometers; and said method further comprises the step of determining a two dimensional distribution of molecular density and temperature to determine the molecular density to be measured.
 11. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 10, wherein said step of determining a two dimensional distribution further comprises the step of cross correlating individual signals from the plurality of interferometers.
 12. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 11, further comprising the step of positioning said plurality of interferometers at azimuth angles about the chimney to receive the transmitted signal and then determining a three dimensional distribution of molecular density and temperature by using a Radon transform to determine the temperature to be measured.
 13. The method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 12, wherein said step of transmitting a signal further comprises the step of transmitting a radio wave with a wavelength between 500 meters and 30 micrometers.
 14. A method for measuring a density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process, said method using a measuring system for measuring the density, and said method comprising the steps of:storing a quantity representative of at least one spectral line and corresponding to at least one known density, said at least one spectral line corresponds to the at least one known density of the at least one of a gas and a flame in a combustion process; providing a transmitter; the transmitter being configured to transmit radio waves; providing a receiver to receive radio waves from the transmitter; disposing the transmitter and the receiver on opposite sides of an exhaust channel; the exhaust channel being disposed to receive at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process; transmitting a signal from the transmitter through the exhaust channel to the receiver; receiving a modified signal with at least one spectral line through the exhaust channel with the receiver; comparing the received modified signal to the transmitted signal and determining at least one present spectral line in the modified signal; and comparing the determined at least one spectral line to the stored quantity representative of at least one spectral line, and determining the density of the at least one molecular species of the at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process in the exhaust channel from a result of said step of comparing the determined at least one spectral line to the stored quantity representative of at least one spectral line and the corresponding at least one known density.
 15. The method for measuring a density of at least one molecular species in at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 14, wherein said step of transmitting a signal further comprises the step of transmitting a radio wave with a wavelength between 500 meters and 30 micrometers.
 16. The method for measuring a density of at least one molecular species in at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 14, wherein:a step of measuring an intensity of electromagnetic radiation emitted by high temperature collision excited molecules in the at least one of a gas and flame is measured after said modified signal is received; said step of comparing the received signal to the transmitted signal further comprises the step of filtering out the transmitted signal from the received signal and obtaining the determined at least one spectral line; the transmitter comprises a signal generator; and said step of transmitting a signal further comprises the step of stepping the signal generator in narrow frequency channels over a wide frequency band and generating the transmitted signal; each of said narrow frequency channels being substantially smaller than said wide frequency band.
 17. The method for measuring a density of at least one molecular species in at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 16, further comprising:obtaining a reference signal by transmitting a signal to the receiver when the exhaust channel is empty; said step of receiving the modified signal further comprises the step of calibrating the receiver by using the reference signal corresponding to the received modified signal near its at least one spectral line; the measured intensity of electromagnetic radiation being related to the determined at least one spectral line; said step of determining at least one spectral line further comprises the step of determining a plurality of spectral lines; and said step of determining the density comprises:determining the temperature of the at least one of a gas and flame by using a theoretical relation between measured intensities of the determined plurality of spectral lines and the temperature to be determined; and determining the density of at least one molecular species of the at least one of a gas and flame by measuring the absolute intensity of at least one of said determined plurality of spectral lines, and using a comparison between the measured intensity of the at least one of said determined plurality of spectral line and the theoretically expected intensity corresponding to the determined temperature.
 18. The method for measuring a density of at least one molecular species in at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 17, wherein:said step of comparing the determined at least one spectral line further comprises the step of searching a database for known spectral lines which coincide in frequency with the determined plurality of spectral lines; said step of comparing the determined at least one spectral line further comprises the step of applying a Gaussian model fit to the determined plurality of spectral lines and determining at least one of amplitude, frequency and line width of the determined plurality of spectral lines and calibrating the determined at least one of amplitude, frequency and line width of the determined plurality of spectral lines to a known temperature; and said step of comparing the determined at least one spectral line further comprises the step of comparing with a computer the determined plurality of spectral lines to the stored at least one spectral line.
 19. The method for measuring a density of at least one molecular species in at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 18, further comprising:said receiver comprises a plurality of interferometers; determining a two dimensional distribution of density and temperature; said step of determining a two dimensional distribution further comprises the step of cross correlating individual signals from the plurality of interferometers; and positioning said plurality of interferometers at azimuth angles about the exhaust channel to receive the transmitted signal and then determining a three dimensional distribution of molecular density and temperature by using a Radon transform to determine said temperature to be measured.
 20. The method for measuring a density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a combustion process according to claim 19, wherein said step of transmitting a signal further comprises the step of transmitting a radio wave with a wavelength between 500 meters and 30 micrometers.
 21. A method for measuring a molecular density of at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a melting process, said method using a measuring system for measuring the molecular density, and said method comprising the steps of:storing a quantity representative of at least one spectral line which at least one spectral line corresponds to at least one known molecular density of the at least one molecular species of at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a melting process; positioning a transmitter; the transmitter being configured to transmit radio waves; positioning a receiver to receive radio waves from the transmitter; disposing the transmitter and the receiver on opposite sides of an exhaust channel; receiving a reference signal by transmitting a signal to the receiver from the transmitter when the exhaust channel does not contain the at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a melting process; calibrating the measuring system with said received reference signal; transmitting a signal from the transmitter through the exhaust channel when the exhaust channel contains the at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a melting process; receiving a modified signal with at least one spectral line through the exhaust channel when the exhaust channel contains the at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a melting process with the receiver; comparing the received modified signal with at least one spectral line to the previously received reference signal and determining at least one present spectral line in said received modified signal; and comparing the determined at least one spectral line to the stored quantity representative of at least one spectral line, and determining the molecular density of the at least one molecular species of the at least one of a gas from a combustion process, which gas is not in combustion, and a flame in a melting process in the exhaust channel from a result of said step of comparing the determined at least one spectral line to the stored quantity representative of at least one spectral line and the corresponding at least one known molecular density. 